IRELAND
BBC News
Journalist Mary Raftery who was instrumental in challenging the Irish state and Catholic Church on clerical child abuse has died.
She was best known for her 1999 ground-breaking “States of Fear” documentaries.
They revealed the extent of abuse suffered by children in Irish industrial schools and institutions managed by religious orders.
It led to taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologising on behalf of the state.
Her work also led to the setting up of the Ryan Commission, which reported in May 2009, and to the setting up of a confidential committee which heard the stories of victims of institutional abuse.
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